Introduction
- This part of Morocco is definitely worth visiting. Most people go from Marrakesh over the highest mountain pass (Tizi'n Tichka) by road to Ouarzazate, although there are also flights from Casablanca and even Paris.
- South of Ouarzazate, most people do a circuit to Zagora, then Merzouga, then returning over Tinerhir, Todra gorge and Gorges des Dades.
How to do this?
Organised trip from Marrakesh Hotel Ali - If you're on a budget, and you're alone, hotel Ali offers an affordable trip which takes in most of the highlights of this region. I did their 4 day trip, but I'm not sure if I can recommend it, and I'll give the pro's & con's here:
- PRO:
- They charge about 300 DH p.p. per day which is reasonable value for money, and this includes food (except lunch) , accommodation and camel rides
- We slept twice under tents in the desert and this was a really nice experience. Especially in the Merzouga dunes, we were eating outside with about 16 people (3 groups together) under the stars, surrounded by dunes and camels, absolutely marvellous.
- If you want a small group of 4 or 6 people, they can arrange that and they will stick to it.
- CONTRA:
- I did the 4 day trip, and I thought we were spending way too much time in the minibus, and we were not allowed enough time to see some nice places, especially if it was not on the program. For instance we rushed passed nice kasbahs like the one just outside Zagora, just 15 minutes in the Tinerhir kasbah (+ a 30 minutes stop in a house where at the end it turned out they wanted to sell carpets), didn't stop at the marvellous Skoura Kasbah (only 1 km off the main road) and the Ouarzazate kasbah. We also missed the region North of El Kelaa. The second and fourth day for instance are almost entirely spend in the minibus. That's why the last day I decided to quit the group in El Kelaa and see some things on my own at a more leisurely pace.
- One particular trip may not be going the day you wish, they need at least 4 people in a group.
- Our minibus looked pretty good, but of the 4 groups I know of, 1 of them had their minibus broken, so they missed sunset and most of the camel ride in Merzouga (this is actually the highlight of the trip).
What trips do they offer - 2 days: to Zagora and back visiting the mountains and the Ait Ben Haddou kasbah.
- 3 days: same 1st day, then further on to Gorges des Dades. Second day to Todra Gorges, Tinerhir and on to Merzouga dunes. Camel ride and night in tents in the desert. 3rd day back to Marrakesh, a 400 km ride.
- 4 days: see report
Other organizations
You can of course also spend much more money with better accommodation. You can organise this from Marrakesh, but I strongly advise against this. I talked to several organizations both in Marrakesh and Ouarzazate, and it was clear to me that in Marrakesh, they don't know what they're talking about. In Ouarzazate, they will take you to off-road places in the desert like M'Hamid or even further, or in the M'Gouna massif.
Trips from Ouarzazate - As I said I strongly advise organizing your trip from Ouarzazate.
- There are basically 4 possibilities:
-a small car or a big 4 x 4 with or without driver.
-a small car costs about 300 DH a day with the smaller local companies like Tafoukt cars (GSM 06678). For a driver add 100 DH a day, gasoline is not included. For 3 days including accommodation of driver, count on 1800 DH.
-A big 4 x 4 costs 1200 DH including gasoline and driver at Tafoukt cars. Dayatours (run by a Dutch girl with her Moroccan husband) charges 1400 DH. However, there are numerous extra's depending on your trip. F.i. a desert trip is 250 DH extra because the car consumes more, a camel trip is 300 to 400 DH extra p.p.
Personal viewpoint If I would go back to Morocco with 2 or certainly with4 people, I would go to Ouarzazate, contact one of the local agencies, en rent a 4 x 4 with driver for a couple of days. These people know the desert region and will propose some trips there (f.i. M'Hamid and further on), but also places in the M'Gouna massif. A classic which is always proposed is the connection between Todra and Dades Gorge through the mountains. this takes 1 day. The way roads were now, with no rain for 2 years, it is even possible to do this with a normal car. Another great trip is going from El Kelaa to Bou Trahar and further to El Hot. This last village is marvellously situated and has a great kasbah (see picture beneath).
The trip we did with Hotel Ali
Day 1: Marrakesh - Ait Ben Haddou - Zagora - We left at about 4 am. The trip from Marrakesh to Ait Ben Haddou is very mountainous offering good views over gorges and villages. You also pass the highest road pass in Morocco, the Tizi n'Tichka. Be careful here, while I was there, the pass was closed for a day or so because of snow! At 11 am we arrived at Ait Ben Haddou, this is a beautiful kasbah which was restored and used for films like "Gladiator". there are still very few people actually living there, and the river in front of the kasbah had completely dried up.
- We then went on to Ouarzazate, but we didn't actually go into Ouarzazate. This is a pity because the kasbah there is really nice we stopped for an hour for lunch.
-Then we went to Zagora where we arrived around 5 pm. On the way we stopped shortly now and then, but there was no time for a longer visit of one of the villages along the road.
- In Zagora we went for a camel ride of about 90 minutes This sounds great, but in fact it is
very uncomfortable and literally "a pain in the ass". We slept in tents with some bedouins who made a living of these camel rides. The food was OK.
Day 2: Zagora - Merzouga - We had to go back by camel unfortunately. In Zagora we lost a bit less then an hour because the hotel where we had stored our luggage had lost the key of the storage room.
- Then we drove all the way to Merzouga, only stopping for lunch along the road. we arrived around 4.30 pm near Merzouga.
- If you want to go to Merzouga itself, you simply have to follow the telephone poles, we went to a hotel 5 km from Merzouga. The camel ride through the dunes to the tents where we slept was absolutely marvellous. Also dinner under the stars in the desert was great.
Day 3: Merzouga - Tinerhir - Todra - Dades - Camel ride back in the morning, even better because the light was a bit better. For the photographers among you, I can say November is not really the right time to go because of the cloudy weather. We stopped a short while in Erfoud, a nice little place with typical Saharan life. Around 1 pm we arrived in Tenirhir. We were awaited there by a guide who took us through the fields explaining us about the crops and irrigation. This guy was OK. Then we went into the kasbah. You really feel as if you were in a city built 2000 years ago, and indeed some films about Jesus Christ were filmed here. Unfortunately the visit was very short, and we ended up in a Berber house where they gave us tea, explanations about carpets and inevitably they tried to sell some, though they were not persistent.
- Then we went to the Todra gorge. The way to get there is nice with some great views over villages in palmeraies, but the gorge itself was a disappointment. Again, there was almost no water in the river. We had lunch at one of the restaurants there.
- Then we went to the Dades gorge. Again the way to get there is nice, but the gorge itself is not that spectacular. We spend the night there at a small hotel where we could get a hot shower for the first time in 3 days.
4th day: Dades Gorge - El Kelaa - Bou Trahar - Ouarzazate - We were supposed to go for a walk for 1 hour in the gorge, but none of us felt the urge to do this. it was very cold, and what can you do in 1 hour.
- Then the group returned to Marrakesh, and I decided to quit the group in El Kelaa, because I wanted to visit Bou Trahar. This is a small village about 45 minutes North of El Kelaa. It is very difficult to get there. You can go there with a collective taxi, but they wait till the market in El Kelaa is finished (about 1 or 2 pm). I hired such a minibus for 200 DH return including the wait. The driver of this minibus turned out to be the son of the chief of the village Bou Trahar, and he proposed to go further to El Hot, of course for an extra price. I must admit I was not really impressed with Bou Trahar, but El Hot was really worth the time, effort and money. It's perfectly situated along a river with women washing cloths, a marvellous kasbah in the middle and mountains behind the village. to get there, you need to drive through a small tunnel and also across the river. During winter and rainy season, this can be difficult with a small car. It is possible to start a several day trekking here, and there are some gorges there. Price for a guide is 300 DH p.p. per day including accommodation and food. The whole trip from El Kelaa to El Hot and back including a stop for tea at the driver's house took me 4 hours and in total costed 300 DH.
- From El Kelaa I took a collective taxi to Ouarzazate.
Day 5: Ouarzazate - Skoura - back to Marrakesh - In the morning I took a collective taxi to Skoura to visit the marvellous Amerdihl kasbah there. This takes a bit less then an hour for the 40 km. The kasbah is about 2 km before Skoura (coming from Ouarzazate). Best thing to do is to buy a postcard of the kasbah and show it to the driver. They will then drop you off along the main road, just past the Kasbah Ben Moro on the left side. From there it's a 1 km walk. Getting back to Ouarzazate is more difficult, because all the taxis coming from Skoura are full. Thus you'll need to walk the 2 km to the center of Skoura and get a taxi there. On top of that, there were no taxis waiting there.
- Around noon I visited the Ouarzazate kasbah. It is a maze of small rooms and corridors. The outside is magnificent, but I was not impressed with the interior.
- Afterwards I took a collective taxi back to Marrakesh.
Info on Ouarzazate
- This place is OK and offers some good opportunities for travellers. It is quite touristic with a Club Med in town and direct flights from Paris. Plenty of places to rent cars and drivers. There's also a cheap place "First Net" to check you e-mail (8 DH per hour). They have their website at
www.ouarzazate.com, but not much info there.
- An excellent and cheap restaurant, also popular among locals is the
Tamda restaurant, close to Hotel Royal. They have excellent sandwiches, brochettes, milk shakes etc... One of the waiters speaks excellent Dutch as well as other languages.
-I stayed at the Hotel Royal. They charge 90 DH for a double room with hot shower, no breakfast.
Getting out of Ouarzazate By bus to.... Tenirhir at 11am & 3 pm Rabat at 7.30pm, 8.30 pm, 10 pm with arrival the next morning at 6 7 and 8 am. Casablanca at 7 am & 7.30 8.30 and 10 pm. Agadir 6 - 8 -11 - 16 - 19 Zagora & M'Hamid: 13.30 & 5 am.
By collective taxi to...Skoura, El Kelaa, Marrakesh
Go to info on Toubkal region
